The latest X-Men: Days of Future Past photo connects the new film to imagery of the “kids” of First Class. These artifacts, as director Bryan Singer calls them on his Twitter feed, are original costume pieces for characters like Magneto (Michael Fassbender), Havok (Lucas Till) and Angel Salvadore (Zoe Kravitz). But they are relics, and I wonder if Singer’s including them because they’ll be a part of his next movie, or just because they're a reminder of where First Class director Matthew Vaughn left the franchise a few years back.

If you’re an X-Men fan, and you aren’t following Singer’s Twitter account, you are light years behind on the upcoming film. As he has worked his way through production, Singer has shared everything from casting photos to Mystique’s lethal leg to life-sized Sentinels… which are bound to create headaches for our beloved mutants.

So far, most of what we have seen regarding Days of Future Past has involved the mutant heroes Singer first worked with in the original X-Men trilogy. A tease for the movie featuring older versions of Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Sir Ian McKellen) and Logan (Hugh Jackman) was included in the end credits of James Mangold’s The Wolverine, and the footage that was shown in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con placed a strong emphasis on the same three characters. It is worth noting that Wolverine will be the bridge between the two versions of the X-Men characters.

With this artifact shot, Singer’s reminding us of the importance of the First Class universe, as we’ll likely spend half of Days of Future Past in that era, where a young(er) Wolverine will have to connect to James McAvoy’s Charles Xavier so that the mutant leader will not give up on the human race, letting Magneto (Michael Fassbender) triumph. I’m still curious as to how long Singer’s movie will end up being. There are SO MANY characters to juggle, and if we spend half of the time in a not-so-distant future, and the other half in the turbulent ‘70s, the movie easily could be three hours while still shortchanging several key characters.

No matter the outcome, I’m sure X-Men fans will be satisfied with Singer back in the saddle. The footage shown at Comic-Con showed a fine understanding of each mutant, and the sight of all of the X-Men actors on the stage in Hall H was an impressive display of star power. Check out the panel below (minus the footage), and keep your eye on Singer’s Twitter feed, because it’s sure to stay busy between now and the movie’s 2014 release date.